The Kedungombo decision<\/p>\n
The joy of the 34 Kedungombo farmers, who won a legal battle
\nagainst the Central Java provincial government last July, has
\nturned out to be short-lived. Only three months. The other day,
\nin a very surprising decision, the Supreme Court announced that
\nit had annulled its own previous verdict, and was now ruling in
\nfavor of the government.<\/p>\n
The new decision unquestionably will raise some questions,
\nbecause it is highly unusual for the Supreme Court to annul its
\nown decision in such a short time. Indeed, seen from any point of
\nview, the Kedungombo case is bizarre. From the very beginning one
\ncould see a number of \"strange\" matters evolving in this case.<\/p>\n
Last July it was made public that in July 1993, curiously a
\nwhole year before, the Supreme Court had ruled that the
\ngovernment must pay Rp 50,000 for each square meter of land
\nformerly owned by 34 farmers, which was used for the Kedungombo
\ndam, plus Rp 2 billion for the non-material losses incurred.<\/p>\n
The farmers were among the thousands of families who lived on
\na 6,700 hectare plot of land which they had to abandon when the
\ngovernment started the Kedungombo reservoir project, financed by
\nthe World Bank, in 1990.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court's initial ruling sent shockwaves through the
\nbureaucracy. Some government officials, notably Central Java
\nGovernor Soewardi and Central Java Military Commander Maj. Gen.
\nSoejono, were reportedly furious over the verdict. Later, Chief
\nJustice Purwoto reportedly met with President Soeharto to explain
\nthe decision. And immediately, only a few days after the ruling
\nbecame public knowledge, the Central Java Provincial Government
\nfiled for a review and a new trial.<\/p>\n
And now, within three months, a new verdict has been made.
\nCuriously, the reversed decision was announced by outgoing Chief
\nJustice Purwoto Gandasubrata on the day he handed over the post
\nto his successor Soerjono. Purwoto, who took part in the five
\nmember team which annulled the previous decision, was replaced as
\nchief justice on Nov. 1.<\/p>\n
According to Purwoto, the Supreme Court's earlier decision was
\nfaulty because the presiding judges set the compensation rate
\nhigher then the people's claim. Beside that, the Supreme Court
\nfailed to take into account a 1993 presidential decree on setting
\na compensation rate for land acquired by the government, and
\nbased its decision on a 1975 ministerial decree which had been
\nsuperseded by the 1993 ruling.<\/p>\n
While we don't question the legal procedures behind the new
\ndecision, one could not help but wonder why the Supreme Court has
\nso suddenly become capable of moving in such a speedy manner by
\nmaking a new verdict within three months, while the backlog of
\nthousands of appeal cases reportedly has hampered the activities
\nof the Supreme Court for years.<\/p>\n
The fact that the new verdict was made just two days before
\nPurwoto's retirement has given rise to the impression that
\nsomehow the two are related. In short, all these circumstances
\nmake it difficult for us to shake off the vague notion that
\nsomehow there is something odd behind the Supreme Court's about
\nface.<\/p>\n
Of course, one could assume that the new verdict may have been
\nmotivated by a concern, in the part of the government, that a
\ndecision in favor of the displaced farmers could influence
\nhundreds of other recalcitrant villagers, who were also forcibly
\nevicted in 1990 to make way for the dam, to sue the government,
\nthus creating a giant problem for the government.<\/p>\n
Hence, we think some sort of explanation should be made to
\nassure the public that there is nothing unusual behind the new
\ndecision. After all it concerns the integrity of the Supreme
\nCourt, one of our most respected pillars of the state.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-kedungombo-decision-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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